Review Detail

When all is said and done (or read, as it may be) I’m just not really a fan of Masque of the Red Death.

I don’t generally like to debate the merits of love triangles since I find the general hate for them a bit silly, but this happens to be one of the few times I just can’t get on board with it. Now, I understand Araby’s confusion and indecision for the first half of the book. She’s just now exploring this new world of boys who like her and she finds things she likes about both of them. Okay, totally been there. But you know what’s not cool? Desperately wanting to kiss and be with one of them (Will) and instead making out with the other (Elliot). Especially when it seems to me she’s only doing it because he’s the one there at the time. This would be excusable if Araby happened to have loose morals, but she doesn’t so it doesn’t fit with her character at all. Plus, Elliot is an absolutely horrid person.

And then there’s the problem of the entire second half. I’m going to be blunt here: it felt like a jumbled mess. Sure, I got the gist of it, but I’m still a little unclear just exactly how they came to arrive at the ending. It felt like there weren’t any transitions to speak of and things just kept randomly jumping from point to point.

The Nutshell: In short, I really wasn’t a fan of Masque of the Red Death. The love triangle did not work for me at all and it felt way too all over the place storyline-wise. I’ll probably read the sequel simply to see if Araby comes to her senses and stops kissing the jerk.

Miss